Hospital Versus Home Based Exercise in Patients With Chronic Stable Heart Failure

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a chronic disease that is associated with enormous burden of illness. Patients with CHF have diminished health-related quality of life, and due to the high demand associated with their everyday activities and self-management, there is consequently a burden upon family caregivers. Though exercise is a component of clinical practice guidelines for the management of CHF, previous studies have not examined the interrelationships among changes in exercise capacity, health-related quality of life (HRQL) and important predictor variables such as self-efficacy, as a result of exercise training in CHF patients. Furthermore, research to date has failed to examine whether a hospital-based or a home-based approach to exercise is the best-suited strategy for long-term adoption and benefit from exercise training. Thus, the most important effective approach to, and environment for, exercise training to improve the health and self-management of CHF patients has not yet been determined. This study will address some important gaps in the existing literature related to the benefits of exercise in CHF, specifically how different exercise approaches and strategies contribute to an individual's HRQL and self-efficacy.

This is a prospective, randomized controlled trial using a two-group, repeated measures design. Male and female patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) Functional Class I-III CHF will be eligible to participate. Participants will be randomized to receive either supervised, hospital-based exercise or monitored home-based exercise. The participants in the study will train for a period of six months and will be reassessed six months following completion of the intervention to assess sustainability of any observed changes.

Inclusion criteria

• chronic stable heart failure
• NYHA class I, II or III
• willing and able to regularly attend a supervised exercise program
• provision of written, informed consent

Exclusion criteria

• unstable angina in the last month
• recent acute MI (last 3 months) which precipitated heart failure
• hospitalized for heart failure in past month
• severe chronic pulmonary disease (FEV1 <40%)
• uncontrolled hypertension (B/P >140/90)
• orthopedic, neurological or psychiatric illness precluding participation in exercise
• heart failure that is amenable to revascularization, which is planned in the near future
• NYHA class IV